that his we are seeing here, are quite -- they are quite worrying, police seem to be very nervous outside this building. >> indeed. and it's very difficult for me to tell from these pictures, because they are so tightly focused on what appears to be still an active situation. where exactly this is. and the reason i am confused about this is because very close to the canadian parliament buildings is a very well established grand hotel known as the chateau lah laurent which ws built around the same time, a chain of hotels that is symbolic of canada and there are reports that there may everybody be some police activity taking place there as well. as police continue to search for possibly a second shooter that may been involved in this shooting situation, which is still unfolding. so this is now encompassing a very large area of downtown ottawa. the capital of canada. is a symbol of canadian

democracy. the fact that we have activity taking place outside the police tape this situation has expanded if you will. >> okay. kimberly stand by we are going to speak to senator jim monson who joins us from the phone, he's in the parliament building that has been locked down. senator thank you so much for speaking to us. thancan you tell us, please, whs happening inside the building, what you have seen, what you have heard. >> well, the building right now is in a complete lock down. m.p.s and senators along with staff are in various locked down rooms. people are quite shaken. the whole idea of it happening in your own backyard, this kind of terrorist attack, didn't seem possible. but we are in a situation where, because my understanding is the one shooter has been killed and, there may be -- for sure there is one other one and there could

be possibly three. >> okay. you call this a terrorist attack, senator, what makes you say that? can you tell us when it was that you realized that something was going on, that there was something wrong while you were in this parliament building. >> well, canada has taken a position dealing with isis, and i think in that sense, it has become a target like any other western country in the last few days we have had a situation in the province of quebec where a gentlemen tried to run down two soldiers and by a canadian that had been radicalized and so on and so forth. but i am assuming but i think it's something that will prove valid in the next couple of hours. >> can he tell us what happened, again, when you realized that

something was amiss, something was happening insided building. and d do you know whether the alleged shooter was able to get inside the parliament building? [ inaudible ] i was a reporter correspondent for 30 odd years. [ inaudible ] in london and all kind of places in the world to cover these kind of things, but here on parliament hill back in canada, we have very security -- perhaps in the senate we have police and security -- >> the phone line is not very good unfortunately. senator i just want to make clear, i just want to ask you again, when did you realize that something was happening? did you hear any gunshots inside the parliament building? >> what happened is that a security officer ran in to our committee room and told everybody to get out, that there was a shooter on the hill.

as he ran in to the hall there was gun fine both inside and outside parliament. so, yes, we heard that. my members of parliament friends from the. [ inaudible ] party, smelled the gun powder in the hall of honor, because. [ inaudible ] parliament in the tower and others could see where the shooter is down in front of the parliamentary library, it was all part and parcel of the. [ inaudible ] parliament building. >> is there any security, is there any police, are they -- security officers perhaps inside the building right now senator are you able to any activity? >> no, i am awfully sorry, i am not seeing activity. people are reporting that there has been gunfire in a major hotel which is near parliament hill, very near, and that there

are one maybe two shooters still on the loose. >> so you have been told to stay inside the building because presumably it's safe to stay inside? >> well, it's certainly safer than being outside. and the drapes are drawn in all of the rooms and there is a total -- the whole parliament building is in total lock down in various rooms being surrounded by many security guards. >> okay, thank you so much, senator for taking the time to speak to us. i believe we have now the first pictures from the interior of canada's parliament building in on thottawa. let's take a look. [ gunshots ]

>> okay, several shots there heard as we look at the first pictures from inside canada's lahr past building, pictures courtesy of the globe and mail, we see police running, rushing inside that building and it's not clear whether or not they are running after someone, but, again, we heard several shots there. the first pictures from inside canada's parliament building. coming to us here at al jazerra, kimberly is monitoring all of this for us, kimberly, when you see these pictures, what are you are thinking? what do you think has been happening here? >> well, as a canadian myself, it's really shock to go see this taking place inside of the halls that i grew up, you know, revering and respecting and to see this in such disarray, this is an area that is traditionally very orderly and, you know, this

is a symbol of canadian democracy and to see this unfolding is really shocking as a canadian, what i can also tell is you monitoring some of the social media from some of my colleagues, my former canadian colleagues who are still covering the ca made generally parliament, that, in fact, they say that as this situation unfolded where you can see the amateur video there, of shots being fired, that there is a report, in fact, that is unconfirmed but that the sergeant of arms inside canada's parliament building on parliament hill may have in fact been the one to respond and to fire back at this alleged shooter. again, we are still trying to learn more about what took place. but these -- this video that we are seeing now is very consistent with the reports that many by standsers had and that was that following the shooting of the canadian soldier just outside the parliament buildings

the shooter moved towards the parliament buildings and inside that building where we have the pictures now. it's believed -- and we heard from the canadian senator there, that the alleged shooter may have been shot. and but what is unclear is that if there are others and so that's why we are still seeing a very active situation outside the parliament building. >> indeed. as we look at these pictures of inside the building, the first pictures that we are getting here at al jazerra, kimberly, it is quite disconcerting to know that the shooter actually managed to make it inside the building itself. what sort of security is there? what security -- what is security like? is it easy to get in to this building? >> it's not easy. you can't just walk in as a tourist who may be visiting and want to go see, you know, the inside of the parliament buildings. canadian symbol, you can't just walk in. there go ahea would be a heavy y presence, one that we know was heightened in recent days because of a raised current, a

security threat that was being monitored by ca made i don't know ill 10 generals, so it is hard to believe that this is taking place. that quart their you are seeing there is really the pathway, if you will, to the house of commons, where the debate would take place with the prime minister and the official opposition. so the fact that this is taking place so close to that, where so many high-profile canadians would be conducting business is really quite shocking and alarming. i believe tell you speaking of the canadian prime spinster, we know he's safe and has been taken to an undisclosed position as well as the leader of the official opposition. but we know that there are some members of parliament or m.p.s still present on parliament hill as well as the one we just spoke to and are sheltering and their office is in place while this continues to unfold. >> right. and reports that one suspected gunman has been killed, is dead. and that police are looking for more suspects in this shooting

in ottawa. we have now a live shot, again, of an ambulance, did we see anyone go inside that ambulance? there is someone in there. okay. kimberly, just another report from the cbc, interesting report, canada, the armed forces bases across canada are being closed to the public after the shooting in ottawa today of a soldier and this is an incidents that comes, of course, two days after a man attacked two canadian soldiers in quebec. one of those soldiers we know died of his injuries. that suspect was killed two days ago by police. but now, canadian armed forces bases across the country being closed to the public after today's shooting in ottawa. was there a specific threat, perhaps, against canadian troops? >> it does seem that the canadian forces, in recent days, have become somewhat of a target given the incident that you talk

about in quebec, the fact that two soldiers, uniformed soldiers came under attack, were struck by a vehicle, one, in fact, died by those injuries. now we have a second soldier one in a very prominent fixed position guarding the war memorial on parliament hill also being fired upon as he was in uniform. providing security at that monument. just a stone's throw from the parliament building. so, yes, the fact that this is happening is going to certainly lead a lot of canadians to ask questions about whether conclusions can be drawn, obviously as journalists we know that it's a little early to try and decipher that information. >> it is. indeed. it's too early and would only be speculating now. but kimberly, just, you know, one point, the canadian parliament we know voted recently to have canada join the international coalition against the islamic state in iraq and the levant, isil, i am just wondering how did that go down

with the people in canada? do people support this idea of being part of that international coalition against isil? >> well, i can tell you that the elected government, the conservative government has always been very -- >> okay, now we are seeing people -- apartment, i am just so sorry to interrupt you. we are just looking at live pictures of people being evacuated outside the parliament building. people being told to get out by the police. >> i am not sure this is the parliament building. >> it's not, okay, this is in somewhere else. where is that? >> i believe this is a building that is in proximity to the parliament building. >> it's the post office i am being told. >> i believe it's the post office, yes this will give you a sense, though, of how contained and intimate this area is in terms of parliament hill is surrounded in downtown ottawa by a number of key federal office buildings, this being one of them. canada post. so there you can see some

federal workers who were also parts of this lock down because it was an active situation. apparently now that sweep has been conducted and they have been able to leave. but i can tell you that there are probably a number of federal buildings in close proximity to the parliament building that remain in lock down as police don't to rule out any potential additional threats. there is concern about a second shooter that has not been ruled out. and so i think that's what we are seeing there. but again this is not the parliament building but a building close to it. >> thanks for that, canada. so coming back to being against isil. how did that go down with people, are they supportive of canada being part of this coalition? >> canadians tend to, while there may be internal difference with his regard to political views, where it comes to a perceived threat against the nation, canadians will often unite around that. and that seems to be the case in terms of the support announced

by the canadian prime minister in the contribution towards combating isil. i can tell thought conservative government of stephen harper has really put canadian defense at the forefront in recent years after previous liberal government, i don't a to say neglected but it certainly wasn't a priority. this goes more of a priority for the conservative government. stephen harper has been in office for quite a few years and has been able to make a substantial impact when it comes to canadian defense and especially now in the fact that these types of sort of dramatic events such as a shooting taking place on parliament hill tend to be very upsetting to canadians and you will find that this will be perhaps a unifying event that will make canadians feel even more strongly about protecting canadian symbols and symbols of security. >> okay. kimberly let's just reminds our viewers of what we have been looking at for the last two hours here on al jazerra and

that is a shooting in canada. police and witnesses say a canadian soldier standing guard at the national war memorial in ottawa, canada's capital, was shot at. a canadian tv channel reports that one gunman was shot dead inside the parliament. security forces are now looking for one or more possible suspects. now, -- okay, these are the first picture that his we received a few minutes ago from the interior of the building, just take a listen [ gunshots ] >> everyone in canada as you can imagine is shocked by the situation and what's unfolding here. very unusual to see such scenes in canada. we have had this statement from the mayor of ottawa. he says as with all ottawa residents, all canadians i am

shocked and saddened by what has happened in the lt hour here in the nation's capital. our thoughts and prayers are with those injured. ottawa, paramedics and fire services provided first response to those injured and ottawa police services are engageed with other law enforcement agencies in pursuit of the criminal or criminals, he says who has carried out this visual us anviciousand unwarrantedded . steve is at the scene in fact with we spoke to him just a few minutes ago and here is what he told also about what's happening there. >> well, parliament hill is being increasingly cordoned off they are meeting media back block by block, this is unconfirmed because they believe that the shooter or shooters has not been unapprehended.

it appears that they are securing all the approach to his parliament hill and moving people back in an effort to obviously make the streets as safe as possible. the m.p.s had just gone in for their morning caucuses which they do every wednesday members of parliament. staffers leaving the senate block said they were told to take cover and out of the their peripheral vision they saw someone running in to parliament block which is the make legislative chamber and they saw police following this american and third as many as 30 shots. we don't have perfect information we know that they are doing a sweep of the hill. right now in terms of vehicles, there are police vehicles and a mobile operating center which may or may not be at the hill because we have been prevented from going there, also construction trucks there unless they moved those because which is construction going on in one of the wings of parliament hill. and as far as we can tell, and, again, this is information that

the police are conducting a sweep of parliament hill to find the shooter or shooters. >> now, let's have a look at the map of central ottawa to see where the incidents have been reported. the national war memorial, this is where the soldier was shot at. it's very close to the parliament building where more shots were heard. our toronto producer joins us on the phone, tell us about what is being said on canadian television about what is happening here in ottawa and what sorts of reaction there has been so far. >> the reaction has been that everybody said it's unprecedented what has happened here there is a lot of shock and surprise by people. there is various members of parliament who are currently hold up in the parliament buildings who are tweeting their surprise and shock. and o ottawa is in lock down. as we have said before, this is unprecedented that we have seen this in canada's capital. all of this, of course, a result

of the shooting that happened just about before 10:00 a.m. local time here in ottawa. as there are now reports that one shooter has been shot. and that the police are looking for one or multiple or several others in the area. the car is still on the scene at the war memorial. that is where the soldier who was guarding the senate war memorial was shot this morning. still a great deal of confusion and relative chaos. schools are closed. they are warning people, the police are warning people to stay away from windows. so very much a very much developing scene in ottawa. >> indeed. yet we also heard, we have also heard rather that canadian armed forces bases across the country have been closed to the public after this shooting in ottawa.

are we going to see secure steppesecuritystepped up in alln cities in montreal and other cities as well. >> we don't know at this point. but if i was to speculate i would say, yes. given the fact that with what we are seeing unfold today in ottawa. the events that happened on monday where a radicalized quebec man basically did a hit and run and hit two soldiers using his karas a weapon, that's what happened on monday in and one of those soldiers has since died, these two situations are -- we are still getting a lot of news about that. so, yes, to say that, bases and police forces and individuals as well, of course, will be on high alert. it would seem like the natural and likely follow. and we are obviously just waiting for more information. and i wouldn't be surprised if we hear more -- >> indeed. this is an incidents that comes,

you know, several hours after canada raised its terror threat level from low to medium. i am just wondering, how does that translate? what does it mean going from low to medium? do people see any changes? are there more security, more police perhaps on the streets? >> that is likely to happen. the change from the terror threat level happened on tuesday often. there wasn't a specific threat at the time that made government movies a terror level up for the first time in four years, but that is what the police said that they had heard from various, you know, chatter groups and that they had heard out there from groups like al thaalshabab and others, the fact we have had three incident, the hit and run on monday of which we are, you know, that left one soldier dead. raising the terror threat level on tuesday and then seeing this shooting unfold on parliament

hill today on we understand morning. this is all very rare for canada and especially for this to happen in the nation's capital. in our seat of government on the parliament hill is very rare. and unprecedented and i think a lot of people are still taking in thinking why this normally doesn't happen in canada. the. >> but both the incidents that you mentioned yet targeting arm the forces soldiers, had they been any specific threat against? >> not any specific threat from what we have heard, we have heard reports in the past that there are some -- also some of the videos that were posted from some tweets from isis members and from radicalized canadians if i can call them that, young a canadians, there is about 130 of them who have left canada in recent years to go and fight in the middle east.

from what we have seen from their accounts, there was some talk about, you know, attacking members, using their karas a weapon. there has been -- i wouldn't say specifics in terms of how giving any type of direction, but there have been suggestions that there is one way that people could be harmed. >> okay. these are live pictures once again of police outside near the parliament building in ottawa. police near the post office still an active situation as you can see the police officers there rushing at one point and then going back. unclear what direction that is the building they just evacuated a few minutes ago, the post office, they were rushing towards another building a few minutes ago, i am wondering what building that is and now you see an armored police car in front

of the post office there. lots of police officers on the scene as you can imagine. unclear what they are doing exactly at this point. whether or not they are still looking for a suspect as has been mentioned by canadian media. one suspect reported killed. police possibly looking for one or more suspects. okay, kimberly is with us live from washington monitoring the situation for us. kimberly is canadian, knows this area very well, has covered the canadian parliament. kimberly, tell us about the area where this is happening. as i mentioned, we saw police just a few seconds ago and this is still happening in fact, rush towards one of the buildings, guns drawn. and then go back. where is this happening exactly? >> well, the concern is about a second potential shooter and it's difficult for me to tell

without the camera pulling out completely, but where i think a lot of this is take is place is outside the police tape that is currently surrounding parliament hill it's other on a street known as wellington stealing, therstreet.there are the office, the post office and a thole chateau loria. this one is located neck to the parliament buildings and built around the same time and there is some concern about possible activity in this hotel as well. and so you are seeing police responding a number of units, not just to this post office, we are looking at now, but also to some of the adjacent buildings as we continue to search for any additional threats. >> look at the pictures now, kimberly, guns drawn towards the sky. >> this would be consistent with some reports that there may be concerns about a second shooter on the roof of one of the buildings.

>> okay. >> and this is why you are seeing, again, police are still dealing with an unfolded situation. a situation that has been unfolding now for some two hours. as they continue to respond to a number of reports and concerned by people who are still trapped in these buildings. you have to remember this all started to unfold right around the time people were arriving at work and settling in for a full day of business. and so they are still in those buildings, many of them. and still very concerned about the possibility that more shots could be fired. >> okay, kimberly. as we continue to watch these life pictures from ottawa, canada, where we have unfolding situation. police apparently still looking for suspects after a soldier was injured. now they are leaving the post office where people were evacuated from just a few minutes ago, hopefully we can show you those pictures of people, there are several

buildings as kimberly was telling us, several places near the parliament building that were also on lock down, but just a few minutes ago police evacuating the post office there. the parliament building itself is still on lock down, we spoke to a senator earlier who said that they were told to stay put, that they were in essence hiding inside the parliament building. not clear what is happening. we have heard reports that one shooter, one alleged shooter has been shot dead by the police. and a second one is being sought by the police. we are now going to be speaking to -- we are -- okay, let's hear from the senator who i mentioned that we spoke to just about a half an hour ago, senator john munson he is one of the members of parliament in canada, he was inside the building, he has described what's happening, what we are looking at today as an act of terror.

let's take a listen to what he told also just a few minutes ago. >> well, the building i am in right now is in a complete lock down, m.p.s along with senators are in various lock down rooms. people are quite shaken. the whole idea that it happened in your own backyard, this kind of terrorist attack. it seemed impossible. but we are in a situation where because my understanding that the one shooter has been killed, and there may be, for sure there is one other one. and there could be possibly three. >> let's show you some live pictures what have appears to be an official speaking to reporters outside the parliament building. we don't want to hear what he has to say. okay. we don't know who it is anyway for now. but hopefully if there is anymore information about that,

wall bring it to you. more evacuations happening right now. not sure what building is being evacuated here. but people are being told to leave. leaving quietly i would say. no one running, no one rushing, but people obviously shocked by this incident, by what's happening in the area where canada's parliament building is located in ottawa. the canadian parliament. kimberly was telling us just a few minutes ago, kimberly was monitoring the situation for us, telling us that there have been reports that police are looking for a shooter who is possibly on a roof top of one of the buildings near the parliament there. and, again, this is an active situation, owe bear with us, we don't have too much information

for now, we are now going to speak to josh wingrove who is a reporter from the globe and mail. he is also not far from the parliament building. josh, tell us about what has been happening in the last half hour or so there, what you have seen as far as police activity. >> yeah, so right now we are still in lock down in the main parliament building here in ottawa, this ordeal happened just over two hours ago. it's not a lot of information in the building, i am sorry. >> so you are inside the building, josh? >> i am, yes, there is some shouting that we were listening to. there is gunfire that came sort of in the main for yea foyer ofe building shortly before 10:00 a.m. this is a time when most of the m.p.s would have been in the building for the weekly caucus meetings, a time when it's